Samarkand’s New Town: boulevards, churches and colonial buildings

In 1868 Russian troops under General Kaufmann captured Samarkand from the Emirate of Bukhara. Rather than rebuild the old city, the new administration planned a separate European town to the west of it, centred on the citadel. Broad straight streets radiated from the fortress, lined with poplars, plane trees and irrigation ditches (aryks), and the old city of Timurid monuments and mud-brick quarters remained to the east.

The arrival of the Transcaspian Railway in 1888 connected Samarkand to the Caspian Sea and Russia and brought merchants, officials, soldiers and settlers. The New Town grew with banks, schools, clubs, hotels, churches and the houses of wealthy merchants, many of them from the Bukharan Jewish and Armenian communities.

The best place to feel the New Town is University Boulevard, a wide pedestrian avenue shaded by enormous old plane trees, running between the main university buildings and the city park. In the evening it fills with students, families and couples. Along it and the neighbouring streets stand single- and two-storey brick buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with decorative brickwork, wrought-iron balconies and tall windows. Many now house university faculties, offices and cafés.

The boulevard connects towards the area of Gur-Emir and the statue of Timur, so it is easy to walk from the medieval city into the colonial one.

Samarkand’s religious diversity is visible in the New Town’s churches:

• The Orthodox Cathedral of St Alexius, built in the early 1910s in red brick in a Russian revival style, with onion domes. It is an active church; dress modestly if you go in.
• The Catholic Church of St John the Baptist, a neo-Gothic brick church from the early 20th century, still used by a small parish.
• The Armenian Church of St Gevorg, from the early 20th century, serving the Armenian community.

Together with the mosques of the old city and the historic synagogue in the Jewish quarter, they show the mix of communities that made up Samarkand around 1900.

A pleasant walk starts at Gur-Emir, continues past the statue of Timur and along University Boulevard, then turns to the Orthodox cathedral and the Catholic church. Continue through the shady streets to the city park and, if you like, end with a tasting at the Khovrenko winery or dinner in one of the New Town’s restaurants. The walk takes 1.5–2 hours at a relaxed pace, longer if you stop in cafés. Late afternoon and early evening are the best times, when the heat eases and the boulevards fill with people.

Samarkand was the first capital of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic, from 1924 until 1930, when the capital moved to Tashkent. Several public buildings from that period survive in the New Town. Later Soviet decades added apartment blocks, theatres and administrative buildings, and the city expanded in all directions. Walking through the New Town, you can trace this layering of imperial, Soviet and independent Uzbekistan.

The New Town is flat, shady and safe to walk. Many of the city’s mid-range hotels, restaurants and cafés are here, so it is a convenient base. Churches have service times when visitors should be discreet; check opening times at the door. Ask permission before photographing government buildings. In spring the boulevards are green and fragrant, and in autumn the plane trees turn gold, both lovely seasons for this walk.